Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd
  • Home
  • World
  • Economy
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Markets
  • Tech
  • Real Estate
Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd
  • Home
  • World
  • Economy
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Markets
  • Tech
  • Real Estate
No Result
View All Result
Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd
No Result
View All Result
Home World

India in the corona crisis: hygiene expert – the new jobs of the pandemic

by News Desk
December 31, 2020
in World
0
India in the corona crisis: hygiene expert - the new jobs of the pandemic
152
SHARES
1.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Every morning Kalavati gets heavily packed on the bus. She drives from her village of Somanahalli to one of the many industrial areas outside the Indian IT city of Bangalore. With them on the 45-minute journey: a five-liter canister with disinfectant, two spray machines and a protective suit. “Towing is the hardest thing about the new job,” she says on the phone.

Since June – the end of the strict lockdown in India – the mother of three adult children has been working as a hygiene expert. It disinfects corridors and work surfaces in companies and shops. For individual customers, she sprays their motorcycles and auto rickshaws.

For Kalavati, who, like many South Indian women, is only addressed by her first name, this job is an opportunity to earn money quickly and easily, a way out of her unemployment. Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a complete lockdown on March 23, she was forced to close the canteen she had run with her husband for ten years.





Kalavati disinfects a motorcycle in Bangalore



Kalavati disinfects a motorcycle in Bangalore

Foto: Umesh N / LabourNet India

At lunchtime, employees from the adjoining telecommunications offices and the electronics, chemical and textile companies ate here. The couple earned around 1000 rupees a day from the canteen, the equivalent of eleven euros.

At least 100 million people in India lost their jobs during the pandemic. Women were disproportionately affected. This is also due to the fact that they are increasingly working in gastronomy, cosmetics, education, housework and care. Even before the corona crisis, they made up only a quarter of the working population, according to official statistics.

In the meantime, this share has fallen by 13 percent compared to the two percent for men, analyzes development economist Mitali Nikore, who advises the World Bank, among others.

But many Indians got creative in this exceptional situation. After the lockdown you can see new mobile phone shops in villages, and chefs report that they have set up food stalls for themselves, there are new delivery services. The pandemic has also generated new professions.

But many Indians got creative out of necessity in this exceptional situation. After the lockdown, a few attended workshops to open cell phone repair shops in their home villages; a service for which you often had to drive to the next larger city.

And in addition to the disinfection work, corona test laboratories increasingly need people to enter the data or assistants who take blood. You don’t have to be a carer or nurse to do this – according to the Economic Times, that alone could create 20,000 jobs.





A female worker disinfects the streets of Dharmsala, India



A female worker disinfects the streets of Dharmsala, India

Foto: Ashwini Bhatia / AP

“I heard about the hygiene job from our village elder for the first time,” says 40-year-old Kalavati. The social enterprise Labournet had contacted village assemblies in states such as Odisha or Karnataka from May. So far, together with the central government, you have trained 450 people from rural areas as hygiene specialists. It should be more than 5000.

Labournet helps people in the informal sector to set up a business and offers further training. Lipsa Bharati, one of Labournet’s advisors, is certain that many companies will have an increased need for disinfection even after the pandemic.

The company trained Kalavati how to properly disinfect them while protecting themselves from the virus and arranging cleaning jobs. Companies can register their needs via an app – and cleaners like Kalavati accept the order. Labornet is not an NGO. Kalavati has to buy her own equipment worth the equivalent of 28 euros. If the company mediates the contract, they retain a 20 percent commission fee. If the forces seek orders for themselves, they retain five percent.

In front of the office in the industrial area, Kalavati puts on her blue protective suit, puts on a mask and glasses, and fills the disinfectant into her spray machine. “I like this job, it makes me feel independent,” she says. “As a woman, people trust me and let me into their offices.”

Since June she has cleaned more than 100 offices, shops, small businesses and businesses, as well as cars, scooters and auto rickshaws. She earns around 500 rupees a day, she says, the equivalent of 5.50 euros. This is well above the country’s minimum wage and roughly comparable to their share of the wages in the canteen. And she still helps her husband in the little kiosk he opened this summer. Instead of lunch, he now sells tea, fruit and crackers for the offices.

Usually, cleaning work in India is not only poorly paid, but also stigmatized. Kalavati says she doesn’t feel discriminated against or in danger because of Corona. In addition: It seems that in times of the pandemic cleaning workers are given a different priority; as if they were protecting society from the virus.

She is proud to have found a job, says Kalavati. “Not only do I earn money for my family, but I also prevent the infection from spreading,” she says. But how long she will carry out this work also depends on the pandemic. She hopes to be able to reopen her canteen in the industrial area next year – with hygiene protection, of course.

Translation: Fiona Weber-Steinhaus

Icon: The mirror

This contribution is part of the Global Society project

Reporters report under the title Global Society Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe – about injustices in a globalized world, socio-political challenges and sustainable development. The reports, analyzes, photo series, videos and podcasts appear in the international section of SPIEGEL. The project is long-term and will be supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for three years.

A detailed FAQ with questions and answers about the project can be found here.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is supporting the project for three years with a total of around 2.3 million euros.

Yes. The editorial content is created without any influence from the Gates Foundation.

Yes. Major European media outlets such as “The Guardian” and “El País” have set up similar sections on their news pages with “Global Development” and “Planeta Futuro” with the support of the Gates Foundation.

In recent years, SPIEGEL has already implemented two projects with the European Journalism Center (EJC) and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The “Expedition The Day After Tomorrow” on global sustainability goals and the journalistic refugee project “The New Arrivals”, as part of this several award-winning multimedia reports on the topics of migration and flight have emerged.

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
A doctor from La Rioja had to clarify that he was not vaccinated twice

A doctor from La Rioja had to clarify that he was not vaccinated twice

December 29, 2020
Seizures and paralysis due to encephalomyelitis: the allergic reactions of a Coahuila doctor after being vaccinated against COVID-19

Seizures and paralysis due to encephalomyelitis: the allergic reactions of a Coahuila doctor after being vaccinated against COVID-19

January 2, 2021
Jambulat Chatochow is dead: The "fatest child in the world" dies at 21 - News Abroad

Jambulat Chatochow is dead: The “fatest child in the world” dies at 21 – News Abroad

December 30, 2020
A young rapper was found dead at Christmas and it is being investigated if it was a femicide

A young rapper was found dead at Christmas and it is being investigated if it was a femicide

December 28, 2020
Facebook Removes Trump’s Post, Covid-19 Was Less Deadly Than Flu |  america – World

Facebook Removes Trump’s Post, Covid-19 Was Less Deadly Than Flu | america – World

0
President Donald Trump challenged opponent Biden, saying – I am ready to debate.  america – World

President Donald Trump challenged opponent Biden, saying – I am ready to debate. america – World

0
US: CDC said 6 feet distance is inadequate, corona infection is spreading by air. I US CDC says coronavirus DOES spread through the air after issue new guidelines |  america – World

US: CDC said 6 feet distance is inadequate, corona infection is spreading by air. I US CDC says coronavirus DOES spread through the air after issue new guidelines | america – World

0
Has China’s space program lost its years of hard work?  |  america – World

Has China’s space program lost its years of hard work? | america – World

0
Account lock lifted: Trump is allowed to tweet again

Account lock lifted: Trump is allowed to tweet again

January 8, 2021
Unstable and with storms: this is how the weather will be this Friday in Mendoza

Unstable and with storms: this is how the weather will be this Friday in Mendoza

January 8, 2021
Aristegui Noticias

Student dies from Covid-19 at the General Hospital of Ecatepec; UNAM withdraws inmates – Aristeguinoticias

January 8, 2021
Further resignation in the Trump team: US Secretary of Education also throws down

Further resignation in the Trump team: US Secretary of Education also throws down

January 8, 2021

© 2020 Radio Fiji

No Result
View All Result
  • Advertisement
  • Contact Us
  • Homepages
    • Home 1
    • Home 2
    • Home 3
    • Home 4
    • Home 5
  • World
  • Economy
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Markets
  • Tech
  • Real Estate

© 2020 Radio Fiji